Suzi 26/06/06

Chennai has been good fun. This morning we went to visit the old British fort and St Mary's and St Andrew's churches. St Mary's is the oldest Anglican church in Asia and was strange looking round, from the wooden pews to the hymn numbers up on the boards, could have been my parish church in Rochford, not here, thousands of miles away! St Andrew's is modelled on St Martin's-in-the Field in London and looks really like it from the outside, a little piece of home which bought a smile to our faces.

Have also really enjoyed the south indian food. You eat with your fingers here in the local restaurants and it's actually quite difficult. The food is served on a banana leaf, which is quite slidy so quite a bit of the Dal ended up on my sleeves in addition to in my mouth. We did get a spoon for the cashew rice and very tasty it was!

In some ways we are sad to leave India but I think overall three weeks has been an ideal length of visit. The country is beautiful and the culture and places to see are breath-taking. However, the heat and the constant hassle sure takes it out of you and it'll be nice to have a break. We're definitely planning on coming back for our "tea tour" so it's time to quit while we are ahead! Plus, it'll be nice for a while to not be a second class citizen just because I'm female! It's been amusing at times to be completely ignored (funniest was on the train to Jodhpur where my questions were answered to Thorsten, it was like I wasn't there!) but overall it's annoying and one thing I'm not going to miss. We've got some fantastic souvenirs , winging their way home as we speak, and many great memories to remind us of our time here. Sure Desert Boy and Kalia won't forget in a hurry either!